so my hard-drive crapped out and TiVo is sending me a replacement. Does anyone know if Verizon will let me use the old cable cards or are they going to make a tech come out and install new cards?

well I just received the refurbished Tivo they sent and now I'm having all kind of problems. I did the guided set up and what not and then installed the CC's...it was working for awhile, I was getting all the channels I should. BUT when I hit the tivo button I get a blank screen. I go to hit the live TV button and everything is blank there too. I called support and they had me disconnect the unit moves wires around. It worked for awhile and now I'm having the same problem. My Major issue is I'm switching over to cablevison this week, and the tech won't be able to install the cards because when you hit the TiVo button a see nothing but a black screen. I think I'm done with Tivo it's very frustrating, first having the hard drive wiped out with all my shows on it, now this...I have the Series 3. Anyone have any idea why this would be happening?

well I just received the refurbished Tivo they sent and now I'm having all kind of problems. I did the guided set up and what not and then installed the CC's...it was working for awhile, I was getting all the channels I should. BUT when I hit the tivo button I get a blank screen. I go to hit the live TV button and everything is blank there too. I called support and they had me disconnect the unit moves wires around. It worked for awhile and now I'm having the same problem. My Major issue is I'm switching over to cablevison this week, and the tech won't be able to install the cards because when you hit the TiVo button a see nothing but a black screen. I think I'm done with Tivo it's very frustrating, first having the hard drive wiped out with all my shows on it, now this...I have the Series 3. Anyone have any idea why this would be happening?

disregard this post sorry! I had the Tivo on wrong output setting....All the channels are working so the old CC work for the refurbished Tivo

They have cable cards but the old ones not the new ones. They told me you would have NO interactive GUIDE, NO video on demand, and NO Pay Per View unless you call their automated telephone number to order a pay per view movie.

Cards cost $2.95 per month.

Don

Is it possible to get pay per view on HD TiVo?? I am under the impression that TiVo still working on this.

I had Verizon FIOS TV installed in my house on 28 March, and I just received my first bill today (22MAY). As I review it, I'm a bit peeved about the cablecard charges, and wanted to ask others here about their experience.

Specifically:
1) I am being charged for $2.99 per month for each single stream cablecard (two in my HD Tivo). Of course, I would prefer if Verizon had a multi-stream card. I was expecting to only pay $2.99 per month per DEVICE. (Comcast only charged me $2.99 per month for their multi-stream cablecard).
2) Verizon seems to have charged a $19.99 "additional outlet" installation charge on EACH cablecard - in other words, they treated each card as a separate outlet. This seems wrong to me - yes, it's two cards, but they are in a single device showing on a single TV. Again, I would prefer if they had a multi-stream cablecard, which would avoid this issue.

Has anyone else had similar or different experiences with their Verizon FIOS cablecards install billing? Thanks in advance!

What was strange to me during this whole process is that I was never quoted a total price for install, not even during the install process (which was probably a subcontractor, anyways). It took until two months later for it all to show up... (and then it taking some analysis to figure out).

Verizon is known for having the worst billing practices. I would definitely call them about it.

I would also check dslreports.com in their Fios Tv forums and see if anyone in your area has gotten M-cards yet. I thought every area was supposed to offer M cards now. You may even find someone who can help you on their since they do have some Verizon employees on there.

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1) I am being charged for $2.99 per month for each single stream cablecard (two in my HD Tivo). Of course, I would prefer if Verizon had a multi-stream card. I was expecting to only pay $2.99 per month per DEVICE. (Comcast only charged me $2.99 per month for their multi-stream cablecard).

They have been charging me $2.99 per card also. Which is exactaly what their price schedule says. Although I have had them for a long time. It is my understanding that currently they ONLY have M cards. Are you sure you don't have 2 M cards? If so, pull one out, and bring it back and they will stop charging you for it.

I paid $0 for my install... but that was way back when they first brought service into this area. I think I am in my third year with FiOS...

I just bought a Series 3 and got FIOS hooked up today in Northern NJ. They brought out 2 cards because they told me they were SS cards, but when the installer pulled them out they were both Multi Stream cards. He took one back and I am going to call Customer Service tomorrow so they know i only needed one. The only issue i am having is that the HBO's are not showing up in the TIVO channel guide and when you go to channel 899 for HBO HD and then hit channel up it jumps to channel 1500? I am not sure why this is happening but if you manually enter 900, 901 etc it tunes the HD HBO channels just fine, but I can't scroll.

The only issue i am having is that the HBO's are not showing up in the TIVO channel guide and when you go to channel 899 for HBO HD and then hit channel up it jumps to channel 1500? I am not sure why this is happening but if you manually enter 900, 901 etc it tunes the HD HBO channels just fine, but I can't scroll.

You need to enable (check) the channels you receive under Settings -> Channels -> Channel List.

The checked channels are the ones that you see when you channel +/-. They are also the channels you see in the guide when the "Channels I Receive" filter is selected in Guide Options.

Since it sounds like you are new to the TivoHD, be sure to see the Using TiVo link in my signature.

I just bought a Series 3 and got FIOS hooked up today in Northern NJ. They brought out 2 cards because they told me they were SS cards, but when the installer pulled them out they were both Multi Stream cards. He took one back and I am going to call Customer Service tomorrow so they know i only needed one. The only issue i am having is that the HBO's are not showing up in the TIVO channel guide and when you go to channel 899 for HBO HD and then hit channel up it jumps to channel 1500? I am not sure why this is happening but if you manually enter 900, 901 etc it tunes the HD HBO channels just fine, but I can't scroll.

You say you have a Series3, not a TivoHD correct? Then in addition to bkdtv's suggestions for checking your channels, you WILL need both cable cards. S3 needs two CC's no matter SS or MS.

Verizon is known for having the worst billing practices. I would definitely call them about it.

I would also check dslreports.com in their Fios Tv forums and see if anyone in your area has gotten M-cards yet. I thought every area was supposed to offer M cards now. You may even find someone who can help you on their since they do have some Verizon employees on there.

The single stream cards are no longer made. Verizon has been using M cards for a while. Apparently their in-house training is poor because not many Verizon people are even aware that there were S cards and are now M cards.

Regarding use of a single M card, will it record 2 seperate channels at the same time? I know it is supposed to, but does it?

The single stream cards are no longer made. Verizon has been using M cards for a while. Apparently their in-house training is poor because not many Verizon people are even aware that there were S cards and are now M cards.

Regarding use of a single M card, will it record 2 seperate channels at the same time? I know it is supposed to, but does it?

Yes on the Tivo HD or HDXL. The Series 3 will need 2 cards, it does not support the multistream function of the Mcard. 2 Mcards work fine.

Yes on the Tivo HD or HDXL. The Series 3 will need 2 cards, it does not support the multistream function of the Mcard. 2 Mcards work fine.

Ok thanks. I was talking to a guy I know at Verizon and he was saying that the only way to get a TiVo with cablecards to work with Video On Demand and Pay Per View, etc. is for the TiVo to be able to pull an IP and play with Verizon's network. Any rumors on that coming down the pike?

So busted. Too much traveling and not enough time to turn around. Well, although I was dragging my heals, fearful of what the unknown might bring, we finally made the switch from Comcast bundled service to Verizon's FIOS bundled service (HD Extreme TV/Phone/Broadband @ 20/5) on April 27th. Both our Series3 and TiVo HD are humming along as if nothing happened. If that's all anyone needed to know you can skip to the next post.

Still here? Okay. First I have to credit VZ for over communication. They must have contacted me in every way known to man except carrier pigeon at least a half-dozen times or more to ensure that I knew when my install was being done and that I would be "ready". Me? I was way past ready at that point, but still a bit apprehensive.

The week before a VZ "road crew" (for lack of a better term) came out and dug up the landscaping along the side of the driveway to install a new cable from the street to the side of our house. They put everything back neat and tidy when they were done. As mentioned, at some point they warned me that would happen.

The following Monday the installer arrived about an hour into the four-hour block. To my surprise the kid (and I say that affectionately, but he really was very young) worked for a contractor called "Ajilon Communications", not for VZ who I had seen doing most of the installs in our neighborhood previously. He read the work order and immediately found that he did not have the digital adapter I had asked for (EyeTV for my Mac). He called in and they offered to give me a VZ DVR box for $1 more/mo. I only have so much room in my office, so I declined. They said they'd take it off of my bill and send me a digital adapter whenever I wanted. (They did indeed take it off of my bill.) I haven't had time to order the adapter yet, but I will one of these days.

Then the tech said up front "TiVo huh? I don't know much about them." Gulp. "I think I can help" I said. After installing the ONT and running some new coax and splitters along side the house he came inside and began work on getting the spaghetti factory of wires I like to call our network organized. (Everything is hard-wired coax or CAT5). He installed their modem/router but only as a bridge to my own D-Link Xtreme N router so I didn't have to alter any network settings. I still can't get my Slingbox outside of my network, but that's another thread/forum.

Between us he was able to install two M cards in the Series3 and one in the TiVo HD and get them working in fairly short order. I had to show him the cable card set up screens and such, but after that he was off and running. He handled all of it on a little netbook computer, but couldn't get the program running on my iMac. So I drug out my Windows laptop so he could finish setting things up. He probably got tired of me looking over his shoulder and offering my thoughts but I think I might have actually saved him some time and gave him enough tips to be a little more confident the next time a TiVo is part of the equation.

Since then VZ has done a good job following up with various e-mail and snail mail info...most of which I appreciate but don't have time to read. The most important part was my first bill. After reading some of the horror stories here and elsewhere I was fully prepared to go into battle. But when the bill came...low and behold everything was correct. Hallelujah!! Oh, and based on the various e-mails and postcards it looks like I'll be receiving our $150 cash back bonus pretty soon as well. Nice.

It's been over a month now and to date I've only seen sporadic, albeit somewhat annoying macroblocking/pixeization...almost all on ABC HD. Even that seems to have cleared up for the most part...although I may just not be as aware of it because most of the night-time series we watch are done for the season. A few times when there were problems I was lucky (?) enough to be watching while the program was recording so I could check the RS Corrected and Uncorrected Errors. Generally the Uncorrected errors were in the hundreds but the Corrected Errors were in the millions...sometimes five-million or more! Ouch. TiVo was doing its level best to produce good PQ even if the signal was problematic. (By contrast I had never seen one corrected or uncorrected error w/Comcast.) But again, that seems to have improved without any effort on my part, no attenuation, etc. Other than that I have very little to report with respect problems.

As far as the PQ I can safely say that much of the SD programming is better than Comcast's...not by a huge amount, but clearly better. A good deal of the HD programming seems about the same. Without a side-by-side comparison I could be mistaken. However there are some shows where I can absolutely see a BIG difference in quality. The whites are whiter, the blacks are blacker and the colors are simply stunning. The word "vivid" comes to mind. Not BlueRay shockingly vivid, but darn close. More than a few times my wife and I have raised our eyebrows and said "Wow! That's an amazing picture!"

So for about $50 less per month less we're getting more channels, more HD channels in particular and for the most part a better viewing experience. I know it's only been a little over a month, but right now I give Verizon FIOS No idea why I waited so long to switch.

Last edited by richsadams; 06-02-2009 at 01:24 AM.
Reason: Typo...d'oh!

Oh, and based on the various e-mails and postcards it looks like I'll be receiving our $150 cash back bonus pretty soon as well.

Rich,

Glad it worked out. I'm a little over 2 months into to it, and everything here is still working great as well.

My prepaid Visa came about 2 weeks after my month was up, so yours should come soon. My daughter got a $100 service credit check for my referral as well (they held back $50 because I already had a landline).

Verizon hasn't offered single-stream cards (S-CARDs) since late March or early April, and that was only in CA and parts of PA. As of early April, all FiOS service areas use M-CARDs exclusively.

I'm having FiOS installed next Monday (the 8th) and I tried to make sure I'll be getting the right kind of card (preferably one M-card). Ultimately I ended up in a 3-way call with a customer service rep and a tech from Verizon's "solutions center." The tech insisted that they only have S-cards in this area (southern California - Chino Hills). He did seem to know the difference between the two types. So my order is currently set to install 2 cablecards.

I'll report back here after the install. I hope you're right and the tech is wrong, but I'm not holding my breath.

However there are some shows where I can absolutely see a BIG difference in quality. The whites are whiter, the blacks are blacker and the colors are simply stunning. The word "vivid" comes to mind. Not BlueRay shockingly vivid, but darn close. More than a few times my wife and I have raised our eyebrows and said "Wow! That's an amazing picture!"

Check out a show on HDNet (or uHD?) called Sunrise Earth... some of the best video quality you'll see anywhere.... I once literally found myself staring as a picture of a bug on a leaf for five minutes, completely entranced by how good it looked.

Check out a show on HDNet (or uHD?) called Sunrise Earth... some of the best video quality you'll see anywhere.... I once literally found myself staring as a picture of a bug on a leaf for five minutes, completely entranced by how good it looked.

Ha, been there, done that. It is an amazing show...particularly once you get past there being no voice-over, music or anything. I kept a copy of Sunrise New Zealand since we used to live there. It is one of our favorites. The whole series is just amazingly beautiful and peaceful...and what a picture!

Still haven't sorted that one out. I've opened ports on both the VZ router (a Westel Ultraline) as well as my D-Link, etc. It worked very well prior, but being behind more-or-less two firewalls now, it's going to take some more initiative on my part. I found a link that talks about it on the Sling web site...have to study it a bit more. Hopefully I can get it working again...can't stand watching hotel TV!

Still haven't sorted that one out. I've opened ports on both the VZ router (a Westel Ultraline) as well as my D-Link, etc. It worked very well prior, but being behind more-or-less two firewalls now, it's going to take some more initiative on my part. I found a link that talks about it on the Sling web site...have to study it a bit more. Hopefully I can get it working again...can't stand watching hotel TV!

I have my Linksys piggybacked off of the Actiontec and have turned off its firewall. It is unnecessary since the Actiontec firewall is in play.

I recommend you turn off the firewall on the D-Link as it is redundant and also unnecessary.

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